


Chie-Ri

by HandsOffMyAppleJuice



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Beverly Marsh is a Good Friend, Deadlights (IT), Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Endgame Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, Kidnapping, M/M, Pennywise (IT) Being an Asshole, Period-Typical Homophobia, Possession, Richie Tozier Has a Crush on Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Needs a Hug, Richie Tozier is a Mess, Soft Eddie Kaspbrak, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22980268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HandsOffMyAppleJuice/pseuds/HandsOffMyAppleJuice
Summary: Richie is lonely. His friends hate him. One punched him and now one shoved him off the quarry. A hand reaches out to offer him a way out of this loneliness. Will it save him or destroy him?
Relationships: Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough & Richie Tozier, Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris (Hinted), Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Richie Tozier & Everyone, Richie Tozier & Pennywise, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris
Comments: 7
Kudos: 85





	1. Falling and Reaching

Richie was playing in the arcade when Connor came up and joined him. Richie was having a good time, making friends with this kid. Sure, he probably stepped into the kid’s comfort zone a little too much. But when Bowers came up, he knew he was dead meat. He ran out of the Aladdin while Henry shouted out slurs and “trying to bone my cousin”. Tears blurred Richie’s vision as he stumbled forward. He ran to the park and sat on the bench that the Losers sat on what felt like a long time ago. There wasn’t anybody there to see him cry.

He rubbed his eyes, glasses removed. He sat there for a few minutes when he heard, “Want a kiss, Richie?”

The deep voice startled him and he placed his glasses back on. He looked around and saw the statue of Paul Bunyan wasn’t there anymore. He turned and saw it horribly destroyed. It yelled at him and he screamed, running away. He narrowly avoided the pole whenever the statue tried to skewer him. When he fell over, he curled up and kept on repeating a mantra to himself.

“It’s not real. It’s not real.”

When he looked up, he saw that the statue was in its proper place.

“I think I just shit my pants.” He said, head hitting the ground.

A little while later, he was by the kissing bridge. He pulled out his pocket knife and carved his and Eddie’s initials into the wood. After examining the  **_R+E_ ** , he stood up and saw the single red balloon tied to the fence post. 

“Are you shitting me?”

He scanned the area around him for the clown when he heard falling footsteps down in the trees. They were light and were quick. He turned and saw Eddie panting.

“Eds?”

The boy looked up at Richie. “Is that you Richie?”

Richie nodded and climbed down. “What’s going on? I thought your mom put you on house arrest?”

“She did but It was there. I escaped through my window.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah I'm fine.”

They walked for a bit, further into the trees. Richie felt like something was off. With the timing of Eddie appearing and the balloon. But he shrugged it off. They reached the quarry when Eddie spoke up again.

“Someone told me a secret. About you Richie.”

Richie froze and he could feel himself sweating. “Y-yeah? It’s probably some fake rumor that Bowers started.”

“No. It’s true.”

“Oh yeah? What is it?”

“That you’re gay. Mom told me that gay people carry diseases. Especially AIDS.”

“E-Eds? Eddie Spaghetti? What are you-”

“I don’t want to be friends with a freak or someone who can get me sick! You’re the sick one, Richie!”

Richie tried to deny this but Eddie kept on bulldozing over him with repeated phrases of “I don’t want to be your friend” and other homophobic slurs. Richie was crying. He was heartbroken.

“Eddie…”

“YOU SHOULD JUST DIE!”

With that, the shorter boy pushed Richie off the edge of the quarry. He screamed as he fell and his back hit the water, shocking him. Before going beneath the depths, he saw a figure that didn’t look like Eddie lean over the edge. His eyes closed, tears mixing with the water.

_ This is the end of the line for poor Richie Tozier. _

======

He woke up in a dark room. Richie was confused but then realized that he had to puke up something. He gagged and coughed out water. When he flipped over, he heard more water and felt it sloshing next to his sides. He adjusted his glasses, which were sliding down his nose. He figured that he drifted to the shore of the quarry and it was night so he didn’t know why he called it a room. 

Scratch that thought. He was right.

Richie saw an enormous pile of shit reaching to the top of the room. But he didn’t know where this room was. He looked around and saw the side of a stage or wagon with the faded words of  _ Pennywise the Dancing Clown _ .

“Well shit.”

He had to get out of here. He got up and tried looking around for a manhole or a tunnel. No luck. A distorted voice over a speaker amplified across the room.

“ _ Ladies and gentleman, please put your hands together for your new best friend, Pennywise the Dancing Clown! _ ”

It turned off and Richie could hear a broken jack-in-the-box play and smoke bombs exploded on the stage. When the smoke dissipated, it revealed the clown. 

“Hiya Richie.”

He started doing his dance of his arms looking like he was going to mash something and his legs kicking out. Richie wasn’t sure if his eyes were deceiving him or It was doing something but he was certain the stage was shaking and wobbling like a camera was shaking around while Pennywise was being as still as he could while dancing. Richie was frozen when the dance ended. Pennywise bowed then hopped off the stage, making Richie jerk away and his glasses falling off his face.

“Did you like that Richie?”

He didn’t say anything. He kept trying to swallow air that couldn’t reach his lungs. It leaned forward, putting himself close to Richie’s face and smashing his glasses.

“Well? Do ya?”

He nodded his head. The clown, thankfully, smiled in that creepy ass way of his. “Good.”

He giggled and said, “Good! Us lonesome clowns need a smile to go with the masks.”

Richie raised his eyebrow. Parts of him had different reactions. Some said variations of distrust and the urge to get out of here. But another part was… happy? Happy that someone knew what it was like to be lonely and joke about the pain and secrets.

“Ohohoho, yes. I know that you’re lonely. And heartbroken.”

It crept close again, but keeping a comfortable distance this time.

“Eddie doesn’t like you that way. That’s unfortunate but that’s his loss.”

Richie looked down and tried not to listen but part of him was eagerly listening to what the clown noticed.

“I see something in you. Something that makes you like me.”

Richie looked back up at Pennywise. “What?”

“I see that you need someone.” It points to himself. “Like me. It’s lonely here in the sewers.”

It was honey and sugar. Two sweet things trying to mask the sinister meaning behind the words. It was working. Richie was eating up the words, happily. He didn’t move when It placed his hands on Richie’s sides.

“Do you want to be my friend? Play with me whenever?”

Richie slowly nodded. Pennywise smiled, happy that his words… persuaded the boy. He moved his hands to Richie’s face. 

“Watch the lights.”

“Okay.”

The red lips that were still smiling peeled back and his jaws opened up to reveal many rows of teeth. Richie could see the bright glowing lights. One of his eyes closed because of the brightness. The one that stayed open felt weird, like he couldn’t really see out of it. Like he was completely blind in that eye. But then the lights suddenly changed to red. He opened his eye and focused on those. Slowly, Richie Tozier slipped away.


	2. Come Play With Us

Bev was shocked. By what she did and how her father was just laying on the floor now. She was certain that he wasn’t dead, since he was groaning and he was breathing. She climbed out of the bathtub and placed the toilet tank lid next to the bathroom appliance. She was still looking at her dad and went to grab the postcard still in his hand. She rubbed her thumb over the letters and went to leave the room when she saw Richie at the door. She jumped in surprise. 

“R-Richie. What are you doing here?”

The younger boy was still staring at the man on the floor in an eerie way when he answered. “I felt like you needed help.”

She smiled. “Thanks Rich. Listen, do you want to leave?”

“Whatever you want.”

She was a little unsettled by his voice but pushed past him and went into her room where she removed part of the wall and placed the postcard in there. She turned to leave and get Richie but found him staring at the wall behind her in the doorframe, face mostly obscured by shadows.

“Richie?”

“Yes?”

She cleared her throat before speaking again. “Do you… do you want to go to the quarry?”

“I’ll go wherever. You lead.”

She nodded. “Okay. I’m going now.”

She started walking out and heard Richie’s footsteps behind her, not seeing the words written in blood on the wall. Bev wasn’t sure if it was because she just knocked out her father but she felt like something was off. Not with her but with Richie. She turned back to her friend and saw that he was looking downwards and mumbling something. 

Examining his clothes, she noticed they were dirty. They looked like they had been worn for a few days and had dark stains on them. The same goes for his hair and skin that she could see. His hair was clumped together or was sticking up in odd places. His skin looked pasty and also had dark stains and dirt stuck on his legs. When he looked back up, she quickly turned away and decided to play it cool.

“What have you been up to since the group… you know… split?”

“Going to the arcade. Stayed at home mostly. What about you?”

“I also stayed home a lot. But sometimes I hang out with Bill. Don’t tell him that I told you this but he regrets punching you. Although… you did push him when you talked about his brother that way.”

Richie only hummed. They continued walking to the quarry in silence. But they never reached it. Richie grabbed her arm and pulled her elsewhere.

“Rich? What are you doing?”

He didn’t answer. 

“Seriously dude. Where are we going?”

“I need to show you something important.”

He pulled her to the barrens, near the sewer opening that they found Ben at. He stood in the stream, still not facing her.

“What do you need to show me?”

He turned to her. What she saw made her back away in shock and a small amount of terror. His face was dirty, his hair was plastered to his face. His glasses were cracked. The lens that had the most damage was almost completely obscuring a white eye and the other looking brighter than its usual chocolate brown. His cheeks and skin around his eyes were sunken in, with shadows under his eyes. 

“What the fuck happened to you?” She said, trying to clutch his face.

He backed away from her hands. He suddenly turned and ran towards the sewer but was tackled by the girl. He kept on trying to escape her grasp with surprising strength. But it was futile. She pressed her weight into his skinny arms, keeping him in place. The water was drenching him, probably cleaning him at this point.

“Richie! What’s going on?! Did you get attacked by It? Please tell me!”

She would’ve continued shouting questions at him but there was an uncharacteristic chuckle coming from the boy. He turned to face her, his neck twisted in a way that should be unnatural and a grin that was on his face that reminded Bev of It.

“Richie?” She said, loosening her grip.

He shoved her off. He was standing above her now. His brown eye was now a bright orange. He leaned down in a dramatic way into her face.

“Richie? Was that my name? I guess I’ll have to change it now. Thanks for reminding me, Bevvie.”

Bev got up and started to run away from the illusion pretending to be her friend. She had to call Bill. She had to call the others. Especially Richie. He was safe at home with his comics. He had to be. This was only It messing around with-

She fell to the ground, legs being clung to by something. Her head turned to see Richie grabbing her legs.

“Come on, Bevvie. Pennywise and I need someone else to play with.”

She screamed as he pulled her into the tunnels, the darkness suffocating her.

======

Bev woke up in a dark room. She heard running water and pushed herself up. The girl looked around and saw the shit pile and the floating children.

“Fuck.”

Examining the shit pile, she saw a wood board with faded words with fresh paint on it. It was odd so she walked towards it. The faded words read  _ Pennywise the Dancing Clown _ and the fresh paint (luckily it was white so it wasn’t blood) read  _ And your best friend, Chie-Ri _ .

“Chai-Re?” She whispered.

“It’s pronounced like ‘cheery’. You know, like cheer? I love putting a smile on people’s faces.”

She jerked around trying to find where the voice was coming from. It echoed and it was familiar. Instead, she found a tunnel and started running towards it. Luckily there wasn’t any surprises from the clown or any of his illusions while she was running to the tunnel or walking through it. It opened up into a smaller room with large pipes over head. Over the running water, she could hear someone humming.

“Oh shit.”

It was clearly coming from above her and to her right. She looked in that direction and when she did, a spotlight lit up from nowhere, illuminating a small figure that was somehow curled up on a wooden swing. Bev could only watch as the person uncurled and their back was now facing her. She jumped as their head suddenly snapped to her, the bone cracking ringing through the mostly empty space.

Bev saw the glasses.

The broken lenses.

The white and orange eyes.

Richie.

But… not Richie.

White skin, probably due to face paint.

Red stripes going from the lip corners and stopping above the eyebrows, just like Pennywise’s.

The outfit that definitely wasn't the boy’s style. It was a skintight suit, that started at his neck and covered his body, even his hands. There were small ruffles on the suit on the neck piece and the collarbone area, pom poms resting in between the two ruffles. There was red, made to look like he dipped his hands in blood and two red upside down triangles, one on the outer parts of his legs. 

This has to be fake. Bev shook her head in disbelief. “No… this isn’t real.”

“Is it not? I sure hope it’s real!” The Not-Richie said, giggling.

“Why the fuck are you impersonating Richie?! Is this some sick fucking joke to you?!”

He used a finger to rub his chin in sarcastic thought. “Hmm… No I don’t think so!”

Bev fumed. She wasn’t afraid. She was angry. Furious, even! “I’m not afraid of you! So you can stop trying to scare me with my friend’s face!”

Not-Richie frowned. He hopped off the swing and landed on his feet a small distance from her. She stepped back as he straightened.

“Who says it’s Pennywise?” He asked.

She saw movement over his shoulder in the shadows. The clown’s face loomed above Not-Richie. He walked out and placed a hand on Not-Richie’s shoulder.

“Yes, Bevvie, why would it be Pennywise?”

She backed away. “This can’t be you, Richie? Why would you…”

“Be friends with Pennywise? We wanted someone to play with. You and the others didn’t want to play with me anymore.” Richie said with a mocking frown.

As he pouted, Bev could see that the bottom lip wasn’t completely covered with the red paint, fading into a white. And as he smiled, she could see that the teeth weren’t sharp. Just his regular, slightly crooked teeth. Maybe there was some hope for him.

She was quickly drawn to reality when Richie jumped into a cartwheel and and flipped to be behind her.

“You want to float? We all float down here.”

He grabbed her arms and made sure she couldn’t get away as It clutched her face. Bev was rendered useless. She couldn’t look away from the opening maw of It’s mouth, revealing glowing lights. The last thing she could hear before everything went dark was giggling behind her ear.


End file.
